Bustle



(NoModeL) O. E.. BROWN.

BUSTLE.

Patented 001;. 27, 1885.

Fig.1.

INVENTOR: V

WITNESSES:

Attorney.

UNTTnn TaTna PATENT Trier.

CALEB E. BRO\VN, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

BUSTLE.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 329,270, dated October 27, 1885.

Application filed June 23, 1885. Serial No. 169,492. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CALEB E. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jackson, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bustles, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to an improvement in bustles, which will first be described and then claimed.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view'of the bustle, and Fig. 2 a back perspective view.

The letter Adesignates the waistband, provided at the front with a buckle, b, for fastening its ends when attached about the body. Vertical tapes 0 0' have their upper ends made fast to the waistband, and horizontal wires 61 are attached to the tapes and supported in position like hoops. The number of the horizontal wires is determined by the vertical length of the bustle and the size of space between the said wires. In the present instance six of these wires are shown, but, as indicated, a greater or less number may be used. The horizontal wires d partly encircle the body, and in order to give to them a fixed hoop curvature, so that their ends cl, which are each made fast to one of the two front tapes, 0, will not have a tendency to flare open too much when the waistband is not buckled, the wires are first prepared as follows: After they have been cut to the proper length they are tightly wound around a mandrel or round form, about one and a half inch in diameter, which has the effect, after the removal and expansion of the wires, to set or fix them to the desired curvature. By this treatment the two front tapes, 0, hang straight down, and there is no tendency for them to spread or flare open. The bustle proper, E, is attached to the back part of the horizontal wires, and is formed of a single continuous piece of wire, f. One end,

which is designated by the figure 1, is rigidly fastened to the lowermost horizontal wire d, at a point which constitutes the left side of the bustle, by a hasp or metal clasp, g, and thence bows outward to the rear, and also inclines up and across to the right side of the bustle, where it makes a half-round turn, 71,

inward toward the horizontal wires, and doubles back preparatory to returning to the left side. The doubledback part, next to the turn, is rigidly fastened to the second horizontal wire by a metal hasp or clasp, 9. Proceeding from this hasp, the wire bows outward to the rear, and also inclines up and across to the left side, where it makes another half-round turn, h, inward toward the horizontal wires, and doubles back preparatory to returning to the right side. Here, again, the doubled-back part, next to the half-round turn, is rigidly fastened to the third horizontal wire d by a hasp, g. Proceeding as before, from this hasp the wire bows out, inclines up and across to the right, where it again makes a turn, h, doubles back, and is fastened to the fourth wire; and then in like manner, at the left side, it is fastened to thefifth wire; and, finally, at the right side, it is fastened to the sixth or top wire. Thus far the description embraces onehalf of the wire part of the bustle proper. From the hasp g,which fastens it at the right side to the top horizontal wire, the bustle wire f bows outward to the rear, and extends horizontally, as at '5, across to the left side of the bustle, where it is rigidly fastened to the said top wire by a hasp, and then makes a half-round turn, it, outward from thehorizontal wires, and doubles back to return to the right side. Proceeding from the said doubledback part, the wire bows outward to the rear, and also inclines down and across to the right side, and at the center crosses the upwardly-inclined wire, heretofore described, between the fifth and sixth horizontal wires. Where the center crossing occurs, the two wires are united by a clasp, It. At the right side the wire is rigidly fastened by a hasp, g, to the fifth wire, and then makes a halfround turn, 71/, outward from the horizontal wires, and doubles, as before described, bows outward,and inclines down in its return to the left side, where it is fastened to the fourth wire. At the center it crosses the upwardly-inclined wire between the fourth and fifth horizontal wires d, It then again makes a half-round turn, 7L, outward, doubles back, bows outward, and inclines down to the right side, and again crossing at the center an upwardly inclined wire, and so on continues until its other end (designated by the figure 2) is rigidly fastened to the lowermost horizontal wire 01 at the right slde. At each center crossingthebustle springwlres are firmly united by a metal clasp, k. This construction of wire bustle in effect forms aseries or a number of springs, which, when viewed from above downward upon their horizontal position, have a curved elliptic shape, as 1n Fig. 2, or when viewed in elevation, as from one side, have the appearance of two Vs lying horizontally, whose ends abut at the center, as in Fig. 1. Each end of the springs has one side rigidly fastened by a hasp, g, to a horizontal wire, d. The horizontal wires serve to hold the two opposite ends of thesprings in a certain relative position, and thereby keep them bowed outward to the rear, and serve, also, as a base from which each end of the spring braces to the center. It will therefore be seen that the horizontal wires need not be as long as they are shown in the drawings. They need not come around the sides of the wearer s hips. they extend across the back. These springs, if the bustle be dropped to the floor, will all close up and lie fiat together, like the hoops of an ordinary skeleton skirt. The center crossing part at k, where the springs are united, is the part which bows outward themost, and itself constitutes a spring, while the half -round turn at each end also constitutes a spring. The center part is braced from each end, or, in other words, the spring at one end, being fastened, braces against the spring at the other end, or both spring ends brace to the center. All of the springs are stayed or united on a vertical line up and down the center by a tape or cord, n, which has the extremity of both of its ends attached to the lowermost center crossing, while the middle 11 of the tape is suspended over the horizontal top part, 2', of the bustle-wire. From said top part the two ends of the tape or cord take on opposite sides alternately of the center clasp, is, so that the two ends have a zigzag course down the center of the bustle and cross each other between each two center clasps.

The bustle is easily made, and may be attached to an ordinary hoop-skirt. It may It is sufficient if theref re be used with a hoopskirt, or the bustle may be used alone without any hoop skirt.

Having described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. A bustle having in combination the waistband and vertical tapes, horizontal wires (1, set or fixed to adefinite hoop curvature to partly encircle the body, and a series of curved elliptic or V-shape springs, each of which has both ends rigidly fastened to the same horizontal wire, as set forth.

2. A bustle having in combination horizontal wires d, curved elliptic or V- shape springs having at each end a half-round turn to form a spring end, and a metal hasp, g, rigidly fastening the spring at a point next to each half-round turn to said horizontal wires, as set forth.

3. A bustle having in combination horizontal wires d, curved elliptic or V- shape springs having each end rigidly fastened to said horizontal wires, and the wire which forms the top or bottom of one spring at the center crossing the wire which forms the bottom or top, as the case may be, of the spring next above or below, and a clasp, k, firmly securing the two wires at said center crossing, as set forth.

4. A bustle having in combination horizontal wires d, curved elliptic or V- shape springs having each end rigidly fastened to said horizontal wires, and the wire which forms the top or bottom of one spring at the center crossing the wire which forms the bottom or top, as the case may be, of the spring next above or below, a clasp, k, firmly securing the two wires at said center crossing, and a tape or cord, n, uniting the springs on a vertical central line by taking on opposite sides alternately of the center clasps, thus forming a zigzag course, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affi-X my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CALEB E. BROWN.

Witnesses:

J. H. EMMONS, D. G. PALMER. 

